1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a chopper having a housing with a plunger and a knife for onions, other vegetables and other foodstuffs.
2. Description of Related Art
Choppers are known from European Patent Reference EP-B-0345223. Known choppers have a housing which may be turned over the goods to be chopped, and a knife introduced in the housing, which is displaceable against the force of a spring by an actuation mechanism with a push button and a plunger. The knife may be displaced downwards against the force of the spring and with the subsequent movement upwards through a guide in the housing is rotated about a certain angle relative to the housing. A displacement mechanism arranged between the actuation mechanism and the housing ensures a positive displacement of the knife. This positive displacement has proven to be very advantageous because it prevents the knife from xe2x80x9cchopping on the spotxe2x80x9d. With this the effectiveness of the chopper is increased and the uniform size distribution of the goods to be chopped is improved.
If the push button is pressed downwards by hand, a lower part of a coupling is rotated within an inside of the housing by way of spiral grooves. Because the push button is rigidly held by the actuating hand and may not rotate, an upper coupling part is rotated relative to the lower coupling part. After releasing, such as with an upwards movement of the plunger and of the push button, with the displacement mechanism a mutual rotation of the two coupling parts is no longer possible. As a result of the positive rotation of the first coupling part by way of the spiral-shaped grooves also the head, the plunger and thus the knife is rotated. In the embodiment shown in European Patent Reference EP-B-0345233 each rotation is 22.5 degrees, and after sixteen actuations a complete revolution is achieved.
A chopper according to Great Britain Patent Reference GB-A-821,493 differs from the previously mentioned chopper because it has a different displacement mechanism.
With known choppers the necessary radial rotational movability and the necessary vertical upwards and downwards movability of the actuation mechanism is achieved by its circular cylindrical outer shape.
Vegetable choppers of this form are commercially available. The actuation mechanism not only represents a significant functional part but also very decisively characterizes the outer appearance of the apparatus. With the known choppers it is not possible for the manufacturer to decisively change the outer shape of the actuation mechanism although this would be desirable for styling and ergonomic reasons.
With choppers with a positive displacement mechanism, such as for example as known from European Patent Reference EP-B-0345223 the actuation mechanism, as previously described, on chopping may not be firmly held by the user but must be released during the upwards movement in order to permit relative rotation of the actuation mechanism. A continuous holding firm of the actuation mechanism on chopping prevents the displacement and may even lead to blocking or damaging of the displacement mechanism. Erroneous operation has been somewhat avoided by displaying operating instructions on the packages of the known choppers in which the user is shown a correct usage. The instructions are often overlooked or are not observed so that erroneous operations do occur.
It is one object of this invention to provide a chopper which alleviates these disadvantages.
According to this invention, there is a chopper with an actuating mechanism which in addition to the known elements has an outer cap in which a push button is held in a rotatably movable manner. The cap, which is held by the user on chopping, may thus have a shape deviating from the circular shape, by which aesthetic as well as ergonomic demands on the shaping style may be achieved. The type of mounting according to this invention permits the decoupling of the rotational movement occurring with positive displacement from the cap.